Hi every one, I am looking for a diet that you used that worked already, and possibly a exercise program too. I don't leave my home to often so if there is a excise program that you can do from home that would be great. Bought a few work out videos but having trouble getting motivated to use them and a little embarrassed because my kids are home with me. They are young but still So if anyone has had success with what they are doing, please let me know so I can try it too. Advice would be wonderful too. Thanks every one

I am a firm believer that "diets" don't work. Oh they might for the short term, but then they don't and you are worse off than before. On the food side, my opinion is that it takes a lifestyle change. Start eating real food, not processed crap. On the exercise side, I am no where close to an expert, but after almost a year of working out( with a time out of a few months when I fell off the wagon) I can say it has made me feel a lot better. I just started doing Amanda Russell workouts. You can find her on YouTube. Most of the time I go to the gym. Read through these forums. There are a lot of smart and inspirational people here. Stick with it, you can do it!

I agree with zahut, the best diet is the one you can stick to and that becomes a lifestyle instead of a short term diet. Any exercise is better than none. One of the first thing I did was to stop drinking my calories. Coke-a-cola was a favorite but now my preffered drink is water. If the kids are little get them to do the exercise videos with you. Make it a game/exercise time, most videos have music so they can just dance along if they want.

Learn about nutrition, and adjusting your diet to eat healthier. Read the forum archives, and especially the 'BEST OF' series. There is a boat load of good information.

eat 5-6 smaller meals a day or smaller meals with snacks in between. i always have raw veggies on me when i get a little hungry. when you are eating frequently it keeps your metabolism primed and burning. when you go for long periods of time without eating, you go into starvation mode and your metabolism slows down. also, raw veggies require more calories to process than cooked ones.

try to have one same meal a day: for me, i always eat greek yoghurt/cereal/berries in the morning. this takes a little guesswork out of the day.

think of your food intake throughout the day as an inverted triangle - you should be eating most of your food in the morning/day, and your smallest meal should be at night. dont eat before bed!

also: blended soups are your friend (ie chicken an veggie soup but half of it pureed). your body will take longer to digest a blended soup than a non-blended soup, and so you will stay fuller longer.

as for working out at home: get a skipping rope! jump rope with your kids. have races with them! dont feel embarassed!!! make it a fun game and involve them as well!

Take the kids for a walk every day. If you can find some sort of stroller/wagon that holds all the kids, all the better. I wish I had done that more when my kids were babies: I wouldn't have felt so house-bound.